A Child's Tale
by drgnqn
Summary: What would you do if it seemed like you were living a fairy tale, like everything you once knew and loved was gone, only to bring out something better...for everyone. Rated PG-13 for possibly later chapters.
1. A Sister's Bond

This is my first shot at writing something besides essays and such for school. I would really appreciate constructive criticism to help me get better at it. Thanx.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or its characters, but I do own the plot to this story and some of the characters in it.  
  
Ages: Videl-17 ; Gohan-17 ; Melody-7 ; Goten-7 ; Trunks-8  
-I will probably add more later.  
  
"spoken" -thoughts-  
  
A Child's Tale  
  
Chapter 1: A Sister's Bond  
  
It was dark...

Not physically dark but dark as in an unseen shadow that hovered silently around the room, filling it with dread and despair.

A woman, in her late 30s, lay on the bed. Machines, of various shapes and sizes, were hooked up to her through a variety of tubes and wires.

Her face was a sickly pale and anyone who looked at her could tell she was weak and wouldn't last very long. She had long, black hair and blue eyes that were once bright and had shown with happiness.

A young girl kneeled next to her, tears running down her face. She knew her mother was going to dye but didn't want to accept it.

- She was fine yesterday! Yesterday..., - she sighed, - it seemed so long ago. But after giving birth...her mother started to fade. The doctors had said they were surprised she lasted this long. Argh, it's not fair! – She was snapped out of her thoughts as her mother turned to her.

"Videl..." the woman whispered hoarsely.

"Yes momma?" the young girl answered, wiping away the tears.

"Love you..."

"I Love you too momma." Videl answered smiling slightly before it dropped off as she looked at her mother.

"Momma?" The room was silent.

"Momma!?"

"Momma!" she cried and a long, steady beep was heard throughout the room. Everything went black, but she still heard the doctors and nurses rush into the room.  
  
-  
  
Videl Satan shot up in bed, breathing hard and a cold sweat running down her face. After looking around the room and realizing it was just a dream, she looked over at the clock.

-Ugh, 4 am...might as well get up- she thought, knowing that she wouldn't get back to sleep no matter how hard she tried.

Getting up, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she headed to the shower. Soon after she got out, a small head poked into her room through the gap between the open door and the door frame that led to the hallway. 

"V-Videl?" The young girl said quietly to her older sister.

"Huh, Melody? What are you doing up this early?" she asked as she dried her hair with a towel.

"I couldn't sleep." She said as she walked into the room.

"That makes two of us..."Videl sighed thinking about the dream before smiling, "Hey, what do you say to some breakfast?"

"Yah" Melody cried, jumping up and down with a huge smile on her face.

"Alright then, race you down stairs" Videl challenged, laughing.

Before she knew it, Melody was out of the room running down the hall laughing.

Videl chuckled as she walked out of her room, following her younger sister.

She finally made it down to the kitchen from the fourth floor, where hers and Melody's rooms were, to find Melody already sitting at the table with a fork in one hand and a knife in the other, staring at her plate as if the food would magically appear. 

"What are you doing? You know the cooks aren't up at this hour." Videl said smiling.

"They aren't?" Melody asked, tilting her head to the side, "Well then what about breakfast, we can't eat it unless someone makes it."

"I'm going to make it," Videl said confidently before looking at her sister's terrified face, "What?"

"Don't you remember the last time you cooked," Melody said, "You know, the 'delicious' cupcakes you made for the Christmas Eve party."

"That wasn't my fault. Someone switched the vanilla and the soy sauce labels." She said.

"You made daddy get sick after he ate one." She accused before giggling, "That was kind of funny though."

Videl also smiled at the memory saying, "Yah, that was funny. Now, lets go make breakfast," As she walked into the kitchen.

Melody then jumped out of her seat, jogging after her sister into the kitchen.

After they ate, Melody followed Videl into the gym. She sat off to the side, watching her do a variety of kicks and punches to the stuffed dummy. 

After about an hour, she started to get bored with just sitting there.

"Hey nee-chan"

"Yes Melody," Videl said as she stopped and grabbed a towel off the rack.

"When does school start?" she asked.

"In about a week, why, Mel, whatsup?" Videl asked sitting next to her sister.

"Nothin..." she said, a depressed look on her face.

"Hey, what do you say to going to the mall later and getting new school stuff, huh?" Videl said trying to cheer her sister up, "And maybe after that we can go get some ice cream."

"Ok," Melody said excitedly as they both got up and headed towards the door to get changed and leave for the mall.  
  
-  
  
Well that's it for Chapter 1. Hoped you liked it.

Next Chapter: A Brother's Bond


	2. A Brother's Bond

A Child's Tale

Chapter 2: A Brother's Bond

He was alone.

Standing in the same spot where he fought Cell, in the same spot where he made a mistake, a mistake that got his father killed.

He sighed

- Its been seven long years- he thought, looking over the dry, barren landscape. – And it's still there, the guilt's still there. - He sighed again, looking up at the sky.

"Will it ever go away" he asked himself.

"Will what ever go away, nii-chan?" a voice behind him asked.

"Wah! Goten? What are you doing way out here?" Gohan said spinning around.

"Ka-san sent me to tell you to come home for lunch and she said she wanted to talk to you about something."

"Alright squirt, I'll be there soon."

"K," Goten said, lifting off the ground," And nii-chan…umm…are you ok?"

"Yah, I'm fine Goten, why?"

"Well…you looked sad." He said, putting a hand behind his head and looking down at the ground.

Gohan smiled. "I fine Goten, just thinking, that's all."

"K." Goten said before smiling as he turned around and flew off.

Gohan watched his little brother disappear before turning and looking up at the sky.

"You're sure missing a lot, father." He said before taking off into the sky, heading toward home.

"I know son, I know." A man answered, looking down at him.

-

"Mom, I'm home!" Gohan yelled as he opened the door.

"Alright, lunch is almost ready." A woman answered from the kitchen.

Walking into the kitchen, Gohan noticed Goten was already sitting at the table, practically drooling over the food that was now being place on the table by their mother.

"Hey, Goten."

"Hey, nii-chan," Goten answered, not looking up from the table.

Gohan smiled as he sat down, watching as his mother placed the last bowl on the table, and sitting down herself.

"Alright boys, dig in," Chichi said, much to Goten's enjoyment.

It was mostly a quiet lunch, except for the loud clacking coming from Goten's chopsticks as they hit the bowls at such a fast pace.

That was until Chichi mentioned her wonderful idea of Gohan going to high school.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"So…"

"High School!?" Gohan yelled after a long pause.

"Yes, high school," Chichi answered, rolling her eyes, "You start next week."

"But, but…"

"No buts."

Gohan groaned, banging his head against the table before excusing himself and getting up from the table.

"Before you go…"

"Yes Mom?" Gohan asked turning around.

"You should take Goten and go to town to get your supplies." She said getting up.

"Alright, but what should I get?" Gohan asked confused.

"Here, I made a list" Chichi said, pulling a neatly folded piece of paper from her pocket and handing it to him along with the credit card that Bulma had given her on her last visit.

"Ok," Gohan said defeated, "Come on Goten."

"K," he said climbing out of his chair, where he had been sitting watching the small exchange, and ran into the hall and after his brother who had just walked out the door.

"Bye mom!" they both yelled before closing the door and taking off, heading toward Satan City.

-30 minutes later-

"Gohan," Goten whined, "Are we there yet?"

"No squirt, not yet. But we're close."

"How clos…wow!" Goten said, eyes getting big as they landed about a mile outside the city.

"Is THAT Satan City, Gohan?"

"Yep, but we're not going into the city today. There's a mall just outside of it." Gohan stated.

"Can we go see all the big buildings next time, nii-chan." Goten asked excitedly.

Gohan smiled.

"Maybe."

"Yay!"

They both laughed as they started their trek to Satan City mall.

-

Next Chapter: A Clash of Forces


	3. A Clash of Forces

"spoken" -thoughts-

A Child's Tale

Chapter 3: A Clash of Forces

"Wow! Look at this, nee-chan!" cried Melody, pointing to a brown teddy bear in the window display.

Videl laughed. – We've been at the mall three minutes and she's already added five new things to her Christmas list…and it's only August!-

"Come on, Mel. We'll go there first." Videl said, pointing to a small store to their left.

"K." Melody replied happily, skipping over to the entrance.

"May I help you?" asked kindly, middle-aged sales clerk upon them entering.

"Yes actually. Could you help us find a size 7 in girls clothing for my younger sister," Videl said, pointing to Melody, who was standing behind her, "And a size 6 in woman's clothing for me."

"Of course, right this way." The lady said, motioning for them to follow ,after flipping the open sign over to closed, "Oh, by the way, my name is Neera."

"Mine's Videl."

"I'm Melody; it's nice to meet you!" Melody happily exclaimed.

Videl smiled at the younger girl's giddiness before looking around the store thinking, -Weird…I haven't seen any children's or young adult clothing in this whole store…and the backroom couldn't possibly be big enough to hold that much…could it? And Neera never denied not having them in stock…whatever.-

"Here we are." Neera said, snapping Videl out of her thoughts.

They had entered a medium sized backroom, almost bigger than the main store itself. It had empty circular racks in three neat lines across the room with two huge shelves that stretched across both the east and west wall. What also struck Videl as odd, besides the fact that everything was bare, was that there was a computer built into the north wall, opposite the door.

"But it's empty." Melody pointed out.

"It's empty now." Neera smirked, walking over to the computer.

"What are you doing?" Videl asked curiously.

Neera smiled proudly.

"It's a new Capsule Corp invention. All you need to do is type in the size, type, and style of clothing you want and the room will fill up with them."

"But how do they get here?" Melody asked, looking around.

"They are instantly transported from a huge underground warehouse that, for all I know, stretches for miles."

"Wow." Both sisters said, awed.

"Now…we'll do your sister first. Let's see…," Neera said, typing into the computer, "You said she was a size 7 girls…any particular style."

"Umm, not really, just not to girly." Melody said, thinking, before adding, "And no frilly stuff."

Videl chuckled.

"Alright…anything else?" Neera asked.

"Yah, do you have any gi's?"

"Of course!" Neera laughed, finishing up on the computer.

"Alright, stand back." She said before pressing the enter button.

Just as soon as she did, there was a bright flash of light. After it dimmed, both girls looked around the room awed, for all the shelves and racks had filled up with clothes.

-Wow-

"Amazing isn't it." Neera finally said.

"Yah." They both answered.

"Well, let's get started." Neera said clapping her hands together.

Over the next hour or so, Melody not only found a good 25 outfits for school, but also 5 new gi's, and two new pairs of shoes.

"Wow! This is great nee-chan!" Melody laughed looking at all of her new stuff.

Videl smiled before frowning, "I guess it's my turn now huh?"

"Yup." Melody giggled.

Videl sighed. - great -

"You said you were a size 6?" Neera asked, once again walking over to the computer.

"Yes."

"Anything in particular you're looking for."

"Umm…just jeans and tee-shirts I guess…" Videl said thinking, "You know, nothing special."

Neera nodded, typing it in.

"But nee-chan, didn't you say you needed a new swimsuit." Melody said, causing Videl to glare at her and Neera to smirk

"A new swimsuit, huh?" Neera said evilly, typing it in before pressing 'enter'.

- oh man - Videl thought before the bright flash.

They were walking out of the store two hours later carrying a small bag of capsules, which contained all of their purchases.

"Bye Neera!" Melody yelled back, waving.

"Come back again you two." She smiled, flipping the sign back over to open.

"We will." Videl said.

After losing sight of her through the crowd, Videl turned to Melody, "What do you say to some food?"

"K"

Videl smiled. – Thank dende the clothes shopping part is over. At least I got a good number of clothes. – she thought, looking down at the bag she was holding, wondering just how many shirts and pairs of pants she bought. – But I still can't believe they convinced me into getting that swimsuit…-

She was still thinking about it when she crashed into something, causing her to lose her balance a fall back.

"Ouch…" she said, rubbing her head before looking up, ready to give the person an earful.

-

Next Chapter : The First Impression


	4. The First Impression

"spoken" -thoughts- =conscience=

A Child's Tale

Chapter 4: The First Impression

_Growl_…

_Rumble_…

Goten groaned, looking down and putting a hand on his stomach.

"Nii-chan…" Goten whined, "I'm hungry."

"But we just ate Goten."

"So."

"Ugh…Alright we'll get something at the food court." Gohan said as they stepped out of the woods, onto the mall parking lot.

"You mean, they have a food court?!" Goten said, looking at his brother starry-eyed.

Gohan laughed. "Yes, Goten, they have a food court. A lot, if not all, malls have them."

"Wow! A whole place practically dedicated to food!"

Gohan snorted. -He is so much like dad…if not his exact clone, looks and personality.-

"Where do we go now, nii-chan?" Goten asked as they entered, before looking at all the people. "And why are there so many people here?"

"It's a public mall, Goten; of course it's going to be crowded. And as for the first question, umm…that way?" Gohan said pointing to the left hallway.

"You don't know?"

"Sorry…besides, where's your sense of adventure. Think of it as a game, the person who finds the food court first gets to choose what type food we buy."

"Ok!" Goten answered excitedly, "But, I think we should go down the right hallway, not the left."

"Why?"

"Because, I said so."

"Alright, the right hallway it is." Gohan smiled, humoring his little brother as they started to make their way through the crowd.

"Look nii-chan!" cried Goten, running over to a store window they just passed. "This dolly looks just like Chobi."

Gohan chuckled. "Come on Goten." He called.

He watched his brother start to jog over to him before turning suddenly, accidentally knocking someone over.

-

Videl gasped, blushing.

-Damn, he's gorgeous- she thought looking up at the person who had knocked her down.

-Wait, since when do I think of guys like THAT?!-

=Since you saw him.=

-Who are you?-

=You could say I'm your conscience, like Jiminy Cricket…except in your mind.=

-Oh…and what do you mean since I saw him? I don't even know him.-

It chuckled. =You'll find out soon…got to go.=

-Wait! Come back!-

She was only answered with silence.

Videl growled, frustrated before noticing the hand out in front of her.

She looked up. "Hi."

He smiled, "Hey."

Videl smiled back before taking his hand.

-

"Huh?" Gohan said, looking around. -I could have sworn I bumped into someone.-

-Oh!- He thought, noticing a girl on the ground in front of him, looking slightly confused.

He reached down, offering a hand.

She looked up at him, "Hi."

Deciding she was nice enough, Gohan smiled, answering with a simple "Hey."

-Wow!, she's got a beautiful smile- he thought as she smiled back, taking his hand

"My name's Gohan."

"I'm Videl."

He was about to answer back when he heard his little brother call.

"Nii-chan!"

"Yes, Goten."

"Looky, I found a friend," Goten said, pointing to a young girl walking up behind him.

Gohan looked at the young girl, then a Videl, and back at the girl again.

-There're like exact clones!- he thought, noticing they both had the same shade black hair and blue eyes, also having similar facial features, only Videl's were more defined because she was older. -They have to be related! It wouldn't be possible if they weren't.-

"Hey, nee-chan!" Melody exclaimed, confirming Gohan's suspicion.

Videl smiled at her before turning to Goten. "So your Gohan's brother, huh."

"Yup!" Goten laughed.

"Cool." She answered, looking down at her watch.

"Come on, Mel, we've got to go. It was nice meeting both of you."

Melody nodded, as they both turned around.

"Hopefully we'll see each other again sometime." Gohan said before suddenly thinking of something. "Wait! Videl!"

"Yes?" She answered, turning around.

Putting his hand behind his head and smiling sheepishly, he asked, "Umm…could you possibly…direct us to the food court?"

-Dende, he's cute when he does that.- Videl thought before answering. "Sure, go straight down this hallway and make a left, you can't miss it."

As they both turned and went their separate ways, neither Gohan nor Videl could stop thinking that they had found someone that would like them for who they were, not what they were or who they were related to. Sure both were kind of nervous about that, but for once in their lives, they actually looked forward to what the future was going to bring.

-

Next Chapter: Today and What Seems Like Forever


	5. Today and What Seems Like Forever

"spoken" -thoughts- =conscience= flashback

Ages: Videl-17 ; Gohan-17 ; Melody-7 ; Goten-7 ; Trunks-8 ; Micah-38

A Child's Tale

Chapter 5: Today and What Seems Like Forever

"Nee-chan…"

"Nee-chan."

"Nee-chan!" Melody yelled, causing Videl to finally look up from her ice cream that she had been staring at for who knows how long.

"Yes?" Videl answered.

"Are you going to eat that?" Melody asked, pointing to her sister's half melted ice cream.

Videl smiled at her before sliding it across the table.

"Yum!"

There was a long pause.

"Hey Videl…do you think Dad will be home from his business trip yet?"

"I don't know squirt." Videl said sadly.

Quickly changing the subject. She said, "Hey Mel, what do you say to a spar when we get home?"

Just as Videl expected, her face lit up dramatically before answering an enthusiastic, "Yah! And this time I'm gonna kick your butt."

She chuckled, "Sure.", as she got up from the booth to go pay the bill, Melody following closely at her heels.

-

"Mom! We're home!" Gohan yelled as he entered, Goten right behind him.

"Already?!" Chichi called back from the second floor.

As they walked into her room they noticed that it was empty and, curious, they walked down the hall looking for her. They found her leaning over something in the room at the end of the hall.

"Umm…mom? What are you doing to my room?" Gohan asked.

She looked up and sidestepped, giving both boys a full view of an open suitcase with a few piles of clothes in it.

"Nii-chan?" Goten asked, looking up at him glassy eyed, "Are you leaving?"

Seeing how close his brother was to crying he quickly said, "No, of course not…right mom?"

"Well Gohan…" She said as he looked up at her.

"You mean…I'm moving?!"

Rolling her eyes at her son's dramatics, she answered, "Don't have a cow, it's only temporary and only during the week."

"B-b-but…why?" he whined.

"Because it would look suspicious if people knew you come from the 439 mountain area every day, a feat that would take five hours by ground and three hours by air. And you know the most important rule about going to school, right?!" Chichi said, glaring.

"Yes ka-san."

Gohan cleared his throat before reciting, "I will never reveal my powers unto penalty of the frying pan…" both brothers shuddered, "unless someone or something is in danger, in which case I would resume to uphold the offenders in super saiyan form as to not attract attention to those of the Son household."

"And…" Chichi glared, crossing her arms over her chest.

Gohan groaned - Why did she always make him say this part? It's so embarrassing! -, he sighed before continuing, "Particularly if my future wife is a possible victim, in which case I will take extreme measures to assure her safety, especially if she hasn't supplied the Son matriarch of grandchildren yet." He said, blushing while Goten giggled.

"Exactly, which is why Bulma has supplied you with an apartment, just outside the city limits. I'd give an estimate of about 20 minutes away from Orange Star High School, where you will be attending." She said, looking at the defeated looks on both their faces, before adding, " Besides, he'll be living here with us, Goten, on weekends and on the days he has off from school."

Goten smiled slightly at this, "Ok."

"Now! Let me see all of the things you bought at the mall." She said considerably lightening the mood.

It turned out that Gohan had gotten a few pairs of blue jeans and some nice, not-to-dressy pants, along with many tee-shirts. He also bought a few new gi's, for both him and Goten, and that doll that Goten thought looked like Chobi (Goten quickly decided after buying it that he was going to show the young dinosaur later).

After sparring for a few hours, the Son boys decided to go home and get cleaned up for dinner. As Gohan came out of the bathroom, now dressed in a clean black gi, he went to ask his mother something before dinner.

"Hey, mom? Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did but continue."

"When do I move in to the apartment?"

"Preferably tomorrow, but if you want to wait a few days it's fine."

Gohan was about to leave the room to go watch TV with his brother before thinking of something and turning around.

"Mom? How am I going to get to school? I don't have a car." He asked worriedly.

"Is that all?" Chichi laughed, handing a box to him.

Looking down at the box, Gohan noticed it held a good twenty capsules. There were about seven cars, three motorcycles, three jet skis, two boats, two bikes, an airplane, a helicopter, and an unlabeled capsule.

"Wow! She's giving this to me!?" Gohan asked, too surprised to notice the unlabeled one.

"She said for you to think of it as an early birthday present."

"Gosh…" he muttered before walking out of the room.

Chichi smiled, thinking about how much her son was growing up, prior to calling them in for dinner.

-

"Oh, good, you girls are home." said a semi-tall woman with light brown hair and eyes, as she greeted them at the door.

"Micah! Micah! Guess what, guess what, guess what!" Melody exclaimed jumping up and down.

Micah laughed. She had been Melody's 'mother' figure along with Videl for the past seven years. It was the last request of her from their mother, Melanie. And it wasn't like she could refuse; one, because she and their mother had been best friends since pre-school; two, she loved the children too much to just leave them; and three, she was their godmother so she couldn't leave them anyway even if she wanted to.

"What?" she asked playfully.

She took a deep breath before continuing real fast, "Me and Videl went to the mall and we met this nice lady who had this room that made clothes appear out of nowhere and then we left and I met this nice boy named Goten and Videl met this nice boy named Gohan and they were brothers and then we went to go get ice cream and then we ate it and then came home." She finished before showing Micah all of the capsules in the bag, "This is all the stuff I got, see."

"That's nice, Melody." She said softly, smiling at the young girl.

"Hey Mel, why don't you go put everything away and you can show Micah after dinner."

"K, nee-chan!" She laughed before running up the stairs to her room.

Videl smiled before following Micah into the dining room.

"So…who is this Gohan I've been told about? Anyone I should know about?" she said turning around, smirking.

"W-w-what!? N-no! It's not like that, we just met! We're barely even friends!"

"Well then may I ask why your blushing like there's no tomorrow?"

"Well, I, umm…" Videl attempted to speak, on her face a bright, crimson blush.

Micah chuckled at the girl embarrassment, "Well, be sure to ask him over for dinner sometime, I would like to meet him." She said before walking out of the room, leaving Videl standing there, speechless.

-

-That was a week ago…- thought Videl before she looked over at the clock.

It was now 11; she had been lying in bed thinking for the past hour. -It was great seeing Gohan at the park yesterday...- She thought, smiling at the memories.

Saturday

"Gohan?"

"Huh? Videl is that you?"

"Yah, it's me." Videl said smiling. "What are you doing here?"

They were talking as they walked along the path, Melody walking behind her sister, quietly looking at all the surrounding wildlife. As they talked, Videl learned that Gohan had just moved to the city from the 439 mountain area to an apartment just outside the city so he could attend school. He also told her that even though he will have an apartment, he was only going to live there during the nights he needed to go to school because his mother still wanted to see her 'baby', making Videl laugh.

"What school are you going to, Gohan?" Videl asked.

"Orange Star High…see." He said, pulling a button out of his pocket and showing her.

"Wow! That means that you and nee-chan will be going to school together!" Melody exclaimed.

Both teens smiled.

"Oh! Videl, Melody; I want you to meet some people." Gohan said suddenly, walking out of the park and onto the sidewalk.

They followed him for a few blocks before Videl spoke up, "Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

After about five minutes, they entered a tall apartment building. Curiosity took over as they followed him into the elevator and up to the 20th floor. They turned around the left corner before entering through the second door to the right.

"Is this place yours!?" Videl asked amazed.

The door led to a large room, the family room in the back with a dark blue carpet that spread throughout the room except the kitchen to the right, which consisted of a small breakfast table beside the counters which wrapped around the corner walls to the area opposite the one wall, leaving a medium sized space in the middle. There were also a few tall stools on the other side of the one counter. There were four doors, two to the right and two to the left of the room. But what had amazed Videl the most was that the whole wall opposite the door was made out of tinted glass, giving her an unobstructed view of the park.

"Yah, its nice isn't it." Gohan blushed.

Videl smiled at him. -He's really cute when he blushes-

"You know Gohan, isn't it a little early for you to bring girls to your apartment?" Teased a blue-haired woman that had just walked out of the second room to the right, closest to the huge window, followed by a black-haired woman and two kids.

Seeing both teen's blushing faces, she smiled, "Just teasing, yet you still haven't told us who this is."

"Oh, that's Videl!" Goten spoke up suddenly, causing the two adults to look at him, "Hi, Melody!"

"Hey, Goten! Who's this?" Melody greeted before pointing to the lavender haired boy standing next to him.

"I'm Trunks, nice to meet you." He said looking at her, "Do you play Super Smash Bros.?"

Melody smirked, "Of course, who doesn't."

"Great! Let's play then!" Goten said excitedly as all three ran into the family room and plopped down in front of the TV.

They watched the kids little exchange before turning toward each other and laughing lightly.

"Oh! That's right, I'm Chichi Son, Gohan's mother." Chichi said sticking out her hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Son."

"Please call me Chichi."

Videl smiled, shaking her hand.

"And I'm Bulma Briefs," seeing the girl's curious expression, "Yes, THE Bulma Briefs."

"Cool. I'm Videl Satan and that's my sister Melody Satan." She said pointing to her little sister who was now kicking Trunk's butt, much to his disgruntlement. 

"Satan…as in Hercule Satan?" Chichi asked curious. 

"Yah," Videl said, before looking over at Melody, she whispered, "He can be such a moron sometimes but he's are father, so, yah…"

They all laughed. Videl looked down at her watch before saying, "Jeez, come on Mel! We have to go." 

"I'm sorry we have to leave so soon, but Micah would kill us if we were late for dinner," Videl joked, "It was nice meeting all of you." 

"Bye, I hope we'll be seeing you girls soon." Chichi said as the two walked out the door followed by Gohan. 

"Bye Trunks, Goten." Melody called, waving. 

As the door closed, Videl turned to Melody, "Could you go make sure we don't miss the elevator, Mel?" 

"K, nee-chan." She said as she jogged down the hall and rounded the corner. 

Videl turned to Gohan, an awkward silence falling. 

"I-it was nice seeing you again Videl." He said, looking down, blushing. 

Videl smiled before leaning up and kissing him on the cheek. "I'll see you at school." She said quietly before walking down the hall after her sister, leaving Gohan standing there dumbstruck. 

End flashback 

Videl smiled at that memory, it was the first time she had ever 'kissed' a boy before, and it felt nice. She blushed, smiling, before falling into a peaceful sleep, unaware that a certain demi-saiyan was having almost identical thoughts. 

She couldn't wait till tomorrow. 

-

Sorry it took so long, hope you liked the chapter. 

Next Chapter: The First Day of Torture 


	6. The First Day of Torture Part One

"spoken" -thoughts- =conscience= flashback

A Child's Tale

Chapter 6: The First Day of Torture – Part one

_ Gohan…_

_ Gohan…_

"mnh…Videl…" he sighed, accidentally rolling over off the bed, "ugg…"

_Gohan!_

"huh...mom?"

_:sigh: GOHAN! GET OUT OF BED! _

"Ah! I'm up! I'm up!" Gohan cried, looking around, "…huh?"

It hit him. -The alarm clock!- He looked at the offending object which was now projecting a stream of curses followed by threats of him getting hit with the frying pan. He shuddered visibly at that before stumbling over to it, sleep still clouding his mind, and shutting the thing off BEFORE the thing pulled **IT **out.

Sighing slightly, he got his clothes for the day from his dresser before treading into the bathroom for a long, hot shower.

=

-

=

Right…no one.

Left…no one…good.

A young girl looked into her sister's room silently before tiptoeing in.

_…squeak…_

The girl stopped, looking to see if it had awakened her target. She sighed, before glaring. -stupid door, almost ruined my master plan. -

She smirked while walking over to the top of the bed, near the victim's head, being extra careful not to step on the squeaky floorboard.

Taking a deep breath, the young girl yelled…"NEE-CHAN WAKE UP!"

"AHH! MELODY!" Videl yelled, glaring at the younger sibling, who was at this point rolling on the floor laughing.

Seeing her sister's glare, she yelped and ran from the room still laughing.

"…stupid…sister…dead…poison…breakfast…ugg…need…shower…" Videl mumbled incoherently, while getting up and dragging her feet toward the bathroom.

=

"Bad morning?" Micah said as Videl entered the dining room and plopped down into her chair.

Videl looked at her before answering bluntly, "Melody woke me up this morning with a yell that could wake the dead."

Micah blinked, "Oh."

They ate in silence before Melody came bounding down the steps and into the dining room, greeting everyone excitedly.

"Hi!" she said happily, skipping to her chair.

"What are you so happy about? I thought you were dreading the first day of school?" Micah asked, interested in the change of attitude since the week before.

"I was, but then Trunks said on Saturday that he would be going to the same school as me and since he's in the same grade, we might have the same teacher and then he said that Goten might be going there too."

Micah smiled, it's been a while since she's seen Melody so happy about going to school. -She's even found some friends too! Wonderful.- She looked over at Videl, seeing her smile at the young girl too. -Well at least she's not mad at Melody anymore, that's the only thing that could put that girl down.-

"Hey…umm…nee-chan, are you going to take me to school today?"

Videl thought for a second before smiling, "Yah I will, but we have to leave soon so hurry up." She said while getting up from the table.

"K!"

Melody jumped from her seat to follow Videl, Micah right behind her.

"Goodbye you two." Micah said waving, as she watched the girls pick up their bags.

"Bye Micah!" Melody ran over, giving her a quick hug before bolting out the door.

Videl smiled, saying her good bye before heading out after her sister.

"Are we going to take the copter, nee-chan?"

"Yup, unless you want to take the hover car."

"No! The copter's much more fun." Melody giggled.

Videl laughed lightly before decapsulizing her jet-copter.

=

-

=

Gohan yawned.

-It's too early for school…- he thought, looking out his window. He was an hour early so he decided wait a little then walk to school, it's not like it's that far anyway. Besides, traffic was murder at 6:30 in the morning, you know, the kind of traffic where nobody is moving because they're just **too tired** to realize the stupid light is green and is not going to get any greener and the people that **are** awake enough to notice are honking their car horns and yelling at the people in front of them that they drive slower than a turtle can run, and we all know that turtles aren't able to run very well or very fast. Gohan sighed, -Life is just too short to spend all your time in this hell hole when you could be spending time with your family instead of sitting in traffic, looking forward to an 'exciting' day at the office only to come home late, missing dinner.- (A/N no offence to anyone!)

He shook his head, ready to leave when he heard a faint knocking on the window.

"Goten?!" He cried, noticing the boy sitting on nimbus who was hovering over the balcony.

"Hey nii-chan!" The boy exclaimed when his older brother let him in, "Bye nimbus!" he said waving.

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh!, ka-san said that you have to take me to school."

Gohan stuttered.

"She said that since one of her babies is going to school, the other should too, but I couldn't move here too because she would miss me too much and that it would inter-interfer-interfere with you giving her grandbabies." He said, causing Gohan to blush.

There was a short pause.

"Nii-chan…how are you going to give ka-san grandbabies? Do you have to buy them?"

"I umm…well you see…I have to…Wow Goten look at the time! Looks like we have to go or we'll be late for school." Gohan said hurriedly, pushing Goten out the door.

=

"Well this is it…Orange Star Elementary." Gohan said as they neared the school, which was confidentially placed only three blocks from the high school so teens could pick up their younger siblings on their way home from school.

When Goten hadn't answered, he looked down to see Goten behind him, nervously clutching his jeans leg.

"Goten, what's wrong?" Gohan asked, kneeling down.

"N-nothing…nothings wrong…"

Gohan smiled slightly, knowing exactly what was wrong. "Goten, there is nothing to be afraid of, you'll do great."

"B-but what if nobody likes me…" Goten said, tears threatening to poor from his eyes.

Gohan pulled him into a hug, "It's ok Goten… you'll have Trunks and Melody there…and I'm sure that you'll make lots of other friends too."

"Really?" Goten asked unsurely, wiping tears from his eyes with the sleeve of his gi.

"Really."

The young boy slowly smiled, watching his brother stand up before walking quietly toward the school entrance. Gohan looked after him, smiling slightly before noticing a certain black haired girl, waving after her little sister. He blushed remembering the dream he had the night before. Turning around, he was about to walk toward school when he heard Videl call his name.

=

-

=

"Bye nee-chan."

"See-ya Melody…" Videl smiled after her younger sister. She had a little problem convincing her sister to go, but once Melody had noticed Goten ,on the other side of the entrance, looking just as nervous and Trunks leaning up against the school wall, all her nervousness disappeared, well…most of it.

Videl looked over to see Gohan turn around, his face a little red. She smirked, harassing time!

"Gohan!" she called, carefully noticing how rigidly he stood, and how cute his butt looked in those jeans… -Whoa, bad thoughts, bad thoughts…- she mentally kicked herself.

"H-hey Videl…" He stuttered, blushing.

Oh she could have fun with this…

"Hey Gohan…" She whispered into his ear.

His eyes widened.

Videl giggled. "Come on, we only have a half an hour left and we still need to get our schedules, put our stuff into our lockers, and I want to introduce you to a few people." She said, grabbing his hand and dragging him to school.

=

-

=

Next Chapter: The First Day of Torture – Part Two

Sorry, I wanted to make the first day just one chapter but it turned out to be a bit longer than planned.

If anyone has any ideas on anything special I should add (things they do, people they see, places they go) or any schemes that the trio (Goten, Trunks, Melody) should perform, whether they be for torture or matchmaking or whatever is up to you, I would really appreciate it. It would make this story a lot more interesting.

Thanx. :)


	7. The First Day of Torture Part Two

* * *

"spoken" -thoughts- =conscience= flashback 

A Child's Tale

Chapter 7: The First Day of Torture – Part 2

"Where is she?!" a blond-haired girl yelled, pacing back in forth in the entranceway of Orange Star High School.

"She'll be here, Erasa! Calm down!" said a girl, leaning up against the wall watching her friend pace, rubbing her temples. "Stop it, will you! You're giving me a headache!"

"Calm down! Calm down! How do you expect me to calm down when our FRIEND is a half-hour late and hasn't even called! If Videl doesn't come soon, we're not going to have time to catch up with her before school starts!" Erasa yelled, hands on her hips and glaring.

"Mia's right you know, Videl will get here and if she doesn't…well we could always meet up after school and talk then." declared a dark-haired boy as he walked up followed by a brown-haired couple walking hand-in-hand, talking and not paying the slighted bit of attention to what was going on around them. "Besides," he continued, "Here she comes."

They all looked to see Gohan and Videl walking slowly toward them, deep in conversation.

"Videl!" Erasa squealed catching both teen's attention.

* * *

"...Videl?" 

"Yes Gohan?" she looked at him.

"Who exactly are these people I'm meeting? Are they friends of yours?"

Videl smiled. "Yes they are my friends and there are six of them."

He nodded, motioning for her to continue. "Well…there is Erasa; she has short blond hair and blue eyes. She'll probably be the first to greet us and will most likely be angry with me because I'm late. Umm, then there is Sharpner who is still on vacation this week so you won't meet him. He also has blond hair but has green eyes. There is Mia, who you couldn't miss if you tried. She's the only one with blueish-purple hair. Ok, then there is Alex, Lime, and Nikko, but he likes just being called Nick."

"Lime?" he asked. -I thought she lived a good ways across the continent with her grandfather.-

"Yah, she moved here a few years back after her village was destroyed in a fire. She said her family just had to get away." Videl looked over at him, curiosity evident on her face. "Do you know her?"

"Yah, I once kinda…saved her from a river." Gohan said sheepishly, hand behind his head.

"Well aren't you just mister hero." She teased causing Gohan's blush to deepen.

Videl giggled before continuing, "Anyway, Nick has black hair. The other two are brunets…I trust you could tell the difference between them." She said unsurely.

He flushed. "Yes, I'm not my father you know, I can tell the difference between a girl and a boy."

"Sorry, my fault."

"Hey! That's not very nice!" Gohan pouted, turning his head and crossing his arms.

"Awhhh, I'm sorry Gohan-chan. Will you pweas forgive me?" Videl asked in a childish voice.

"And if I don't want to."

Videl smirked, "Then I'll have to do something to earn your forgiveness."

He smirked back, "And what would that be?"

"You'll see."

"When?"

"When I feel like doing it to you."

"Awhhh."

Videl laughed, "You sound like my sister when you do that."

"That's not very ni…" He attempted to finish but was cut off by a yell. "Huh?"

"That was Erasa, come on!" Videl said, grabbing his hand and dragging him to where his friends were standing in the entrance.

"Videl! What happened?!" Erasa yelled hysterically.

"Sorry Erasa, I had to drop Melody off at school and then I met up with Gohan who was dropping his little brother off."

After introducing Gohan to everyone, the group talked for a little before leaving toward the office to retrieve their schedules.

"Umm…alright it looks like I have room 356 for my main classes and P.E. last, what about you guys?" Videl asked after scanning the piece of paper.

"I've got the same." Gohan answered.

"Me too." Erasa answered.

"Sorry guys, me and Nick have room 327 but still have P.E. last." Mia said looking up from the paper.

"That sucks, Lime and I have room 381 and P.E. first. I guess that means we won't be in any of your classes this year." Alex sadly declared.

"It's not that bad, at least you two have each other and besides, we'll all be meeting up after school and we still have Friday nights." Videl said, trying to cheer her friends up.

They all agreed before Gohan asked, "What happens on Fridays?"

"I didn't tell you? Sorry. Well, we all go over one of our houses on Friday night, sleep over, then hang out Saturday." Videl answered, "I believe I'm hosting this week, right?"

"Yup." Erasa agreed.

_BRING_

"Shoot, that's the bell, we'd better go." Alex said as he and Lime hurried off.

"Yah, see-ya in P.E.!" Nikko yelled as he and Mia walked off too.

"See-ya! Come on guys." Erasa said as they headed down through the now bustling hall.

* * *

"History is sooo boring. And it's only the first day of school!" Videl groaned, letting her head drop on the table. 

Gohan smiled at her before answering, "It's not that bad Viddy. Besides, P.E.'s next; our last class before being released among the commoners of Satan City."

She snorted before thinking of something. Lifting her head up she turned to Gohan and asked, blushing, "Will you come to my house for dinner tonight. My godmother wants to meet you."

"Sure, I don't see why not."

"Great!" Videl laughed, "And I could show you around town afterwards, since you're new to the area and all."

He smiled and nodded, turning back to the front of the room. -This is great! A whole evening with Videl! And maybe I could show her around the mountain area sometime. I bet she'd like the waterfall…- He was snapped out of his thoughts by a cell phone ringing next to him.

"Erasa? I thought we weren't aloud cell phones in class?" Gohan asked, not really aware that the professor wasn't paying the least bit of attention to the class as he droned on and on while writing notes on the board, not looking like he was going to stop anytime soon.

"The professor doesn't seem to mind besides, it's Sharpner." Erasa said, looking at the caller id before answering.

"Goody-two-shoes." Videl teased, leaning back in her chair.

Gohan just stuck his tongue out at her, feeling strangely better after doing so. It just made her giggle.

_BRING_

"Thank Dende!" Videl cried as she got up from her seat.

"It wasn't that horrible. At least we're learning about a semi-interesting topic."

She looked at him disbelievingly, "You were actually listening to him?! And it doesn't matter how interesting the topic is, the way he lectures he could make Christmas sound like the most boring and uninteresting holiday that happens all year!"

Gohan just laughed lightly as they walked out of the classroom and was about to retort when he was once again interrupted by Erasa.

"Wait up guys!" they stopped while she jogged up to them, "Sharpner said hi to everyone and said that he can't wait to come back and see all of us."

"Sooo, did you two get together yet?" Videl asked innocently.

"W-what do you mean?" asked Erasa nervously.

Videl smirked while Gohan just walked quietly beside them, watching curiously, "You know what I mean, you like Sharpner and he likes you and don't even try to deny it! It's written all over both of your faces whenever you're together."

Erasa blushed, "W-well I…" she sighed, "I guess you caught me, I do l-like him. But we're friends, that would be kinda weird, wouldn't it?"

"I don't see why it would be? Alex and Lime were friends before they started dating and so were Nick and Mia."

"But Nick and Mia aren't dating!"

"Give it time, by Christmas they will be, it's obvious they like each other."

Erasa still seemed unsure before an idea hit her and a devious look appeared on her face, "Yah, I guess your right, friends can be together without it being weird. I mean you and Gohan are the perfect example." She shook her head, "Known each other for only a week and are already ready to take it to the next level." She sighed again before walking into the gym, leaving both teens standing there dumbstruck, "Young love…"

Gohan and Videl looked at each other, both of their faces filled with color.

"W-well w-we should go b-before we're late." Gohan said quickly, putting a hand behind his head.

"Y-yah…" Videl agreed as they hurried off into the gym to meet their friends, both just as confused as the other about the emotions that have plagued them since their meeting in the mall.

* * *

I'm really sorry about the extremely long wait for this chapter. I was on vacation from the 7th to the 14th and was sick for about a week and a half afterwards so it was really difficult to finish. Sorry again and to let everyone know, I will only be able to update once **maybe** twice a week starting the 30th because of school and the enormous amount of homework they seem necessary to pile us with. 

Next Chapter: The Seven Chibi's


	8. The Seven Chibi's

"spoken" -thoughts- conscience flashback

A Child's Tale

Chapter 8: The Seven Chibi's

"Well it's about time you two got here." A lavender-haired boy said, moving from his previous spot on the wall to meet his friends.

"Sorry Trunks."

"Yah, sorry." The two raven-haired 7-year-olds answered guiltily.

He just rolled his eyes before motioning for the two to follow him through the double doors. "Come on, dad dropped me off about a half-hour ago so I had time to explore a bit. And I think there are some people you two would like to meet."

The nodded before hurrying after him down the long, seemingly endless hallway, lined with doors parallel to the ones across the hall. Both were getting a little uneasy about their surroundings before they noticed a light at the end of the hall.

"Where are we going?" Goten asked.

Trunks smirked, "To the 'Exploration Cavern'" he mocked.

Melody raised an eyebrow, "The exploration cavern?"

Trunks just snickered while Goten smiled.

"Here." Trunks stated as they walked into the room, temporarily blinded by the sudden brightness.

"Whoa..." Melody answered as she looked around the room, right eye twitching. The large, circular room, about 80 feet in diameter, was equipped with a light green rug, baby pink walls, and the high ceiling was colored baby blue on the outside, slowly darkening until it reached the center where it was a navy blue color. In the center of the room was a huge, plastic castle/jungle-gym surrounded by a 'moat' (a 5-inch deep stream with fake, plastic alligators that swam through it controlled by magnets). In the space around the castle were smaller playhouses that resembled village buildings, caves, lone towers, and there was even a dragon. A few teachers lined the walls while a good number of kids ran through the castle and the other replicas, ages varying from 4 to 11.

"Cool!" Goten cried, ecstatic for he had never seen so many toys in one place before. Melody just smiled, internally celebrating, and Trunks just watched them amusedly before breaking them out of their reverie, "Come on, they're waiting inside." The two nodded.

* * *

"Where inside the castle are they, Trunks?" Goten asked curiously after they crossed the bridge and entered through the double doors. 

"Inside the common room, in the deepest part of the castle. It's quiet there for not many people travel that far in." Goten nodded.

As they proceeded through the many hallways and went up three staircases, they eventually came to a large door, 6 ½ feet in height (this is according to their standards). As they walked through it, the three noticed a large, rectangular table in the center of the room, surrounded by seven chairs, the eighth up against the wall; the four closest to them already occupied. Their talking ceased as the door opened.

"We didn't think you would show." A blue-haired 7-year-old stated, intertwining his fingers and placing his hands on the table.

Trunks just snorted and took his place at the head of the table, Melody and Goten sitting on either side of him. Next to Melody sat two girls, one raven haired and the other with bright blue hair. The blue-haired boy sat next to Goten and next to him sat a boy with a black mohawk.

_Silence..._

The raven-haired girl suddenly stood up placing both hands on the table, "Well, if all of you aren't going to introduce yourselves I will. I'm Pan; it's nice to meet you two. This is my friend Bra, "she pointed to the girl sitting next to her, "And this is Jaren...and Uub." Pan said first pointing to the blue-haired boy, than the boy with the mohawk. All the chibis sitting down smiled; leave it to Pan to break the ice. Well, most of them...Goten just sat there studying Pan and Bra for a minute before looking at Trunks who nodded.

Goten stood up, "Who are you?" he addressed to the two girls.

"Umm...what do you mean?" They looked at each other nervously.

"Your ki is like Trunk's," he said pointing to Bra then to Pan, "And yours is like nii-chan's and someone els...someone like....no." Goten's eyes widened as he looked at the mini-clone of Videl and then at Trunks.

"Are you...?" Trunks asked standing up.

The girls looked down shamefully, they had promised to keep it a secret. Pan sighed, "Yes we are from the future Trunks...but don't tell!"

"You're from the future...how?" Melody asked confused, a similar look on both Uub's and Jaren's faces.

Pan sighed and sat down, "It's a long story and I don't think Sensei would want me to tell you."

"Who's your sensei?" Jaren asked.

"My brother." Bra answered.

"Who's your brother?"

Pan smiled proudly, "The greatest fighter in our timeline, Trunks Briefs."

Trunks and Goten looked at each other before grinning madly, "You know Mirai?!" They cried in unison.

"Umm...yah." Bra stated, confused, "How do **you** know him, momma said Trunks was just a baby and Goten wasn't even born yet."

Goten stuck up his nose, "Just because I wasn't born yet doesn't mean I haven't heard stories."

"He's right. Anyway, why are you here in the past and why didn't Mirai come with you?"

Pan sighed; she was defiantly not getting out of this, "It all started when the androids appeared..."

Trunks and Goten sat there patently; they had already heard this part of the story millions of times from Gohan and Vegeta but they were willing to wait...it would be well worth it in the end. They would finally find out what had happened in the future after Mirai Trunks had left from the present.

Both smiled at that thought, redirecting their attention to Pan who was adding bits and pieces about saiyans in her seemingly endless story.

* * *

Sorry, again, about the wait. This chapter seemed really hard to write for some reason... 

Next Chapter: Dinner at the Satan's


End file.
